An Unexpected Turn
by newyork24-7
Summary: One comment can change so many things and set you on a path you didn't expect and weren't prepared for.
1. Chapter 1

**I've rated this T, but it's possibly bordering on M, I'm not too sure.**

**I think it'll probably go up in rating at somepoint anyway.**

**I own nothing at all.**

* * *

"How the hell would you know what it takes to keep a relationship going? A couple of weeks max and you've sent them running for the hills!"

Robbie winced into his pint as he remembered his words from earlier and the flash of hurt it had caused to cross Jackie's face before she schooled her face back into an expressionless mask.

He'd apologized of course, and she'd accepted it, but unlike their usual apology routine their relationship had yet to return to normal and so things remained strained between them. So strained in fact that when invited to the pub, Jackie had declined, choosing instead to head home.

His frown deepened as Stuart sank down into the seat next to him, nudging a whisky in Burke's direction before taking a large swig of his own cider. "Wonder what's got into Jackie?" he mused out loud.

"What do you mean?" Burke asked.

"Well it's not like her to turn down a drink," Stuart pointed out. "Plus she snapped at me earlier."

"Maybe you deserved it," Robbie growled.

"I only asked a simple question," he protested in reply.

Burke merely shrugged; he didn't particularly go in for analysing his team's private lives as long as it didn't interfere with the job at hand. "Maybe she just didn't want to spend yet another evening in this charming establishment." He nodded his head towards the faded patterned wallpaper as proof of point, before leaning back in his chair, ending the conversation as far as he was concerned.

Stuart's nose crinkled, and he shook his head before turning to Robbie and asking jokingly, "You didn't say anything to her, did you? I know the effect you can have."

Letting out an annoyed breath, Robbie muttered, "Just leave it alone."

Stuart's eyes widened. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he hissed. "Anyway I've already apologized, she's just being stubborn."

"It's not like her to hold a grudge."

Robbie drained his pint and stood up abruptly. "Going to the bar," he informed them shortly.

"Get another round in then," Burke told him.

Giving yet another grumble, Robbie stomped to the bar. Stuart watched him warily. "So what do you think he did? It must have been bad if she's avoiding him to this extent.

Burke gave an irritated sigh, and leaning forward patted Stuart's shoulder, telling him, "If I were you, son, I wouldn't get involved. Let the pair of them fight it out amongst themselves." He took another gulp of his drink. "Like a pair o' bloody weans sometimes," he muttered under his breath.

"Yeah but-"

"Stuart, leave it," he breathed out. "They willnae thank you for it, and anyway they'll sort it out soon enough."

"What if they don't?"

"They have to." Burke shrugged casually. In all honesty he wasn't even slightly concerned about this tiff, and as long as it stayed out of the workplace he'd remain so. His eyes narrowed as Robbie slammed the whisky he'd requested down in front of him and dropped back into his own seat, draining his own pint yet again. Then again he decided he really didn't want to spend the night looking across at Robbie's scowling face. "A smile wouldn't kill you."

"That's rich, coming from you," he scoffed in reply.

"Watch it," Burke warned him.

He didn't reply and merely slumped back in his seat again to continue with his self appointed task of drinking himself into oblivion.

* * *

A little over an hour later, Stuart gave a yawn and glanced at his watch. "I'm going to go."

Burke looked down at the dregs left in his glass and nodded. "Aye, think I'll call it a night too." He glanced over at Robbie. "And you?" he prompted.

"Yeah," he mumbled in reply as he got slightly unsteadily to his feet.

Burke grabbed his jacket in an attempt to steady him. "Think we'll put you in the first taxi."

Robbie batted him away, and the three men made their way out of the pub. Once outside Robbie dug his hands into his pockets and tilted his head upwards, glaring at the night's sky. He couldn't understand why she hadn't just let it go, and in all honesty it was irritating the hell out of him that she just wouldn't let it slide. He hated when she wouldn't speak to him, it made him feel edgy and out of sorts.

His fingers enclosed around the packet of cigarettes he kept on him just in case. He pulled them out of his pocket and yanked one out impatiently as he fumbled for his lighter all to no avail. He glanced hopefully in Stuart's direction. "You got a light?"

"Nope, and anyway here comes a taxi, you're going to have to wait."

"Fine," He muttered, shoving the packet back into his pocket and flicking away the cigarette. "I am capable of making my own way home," he snapped.

"Yeah well I'd prefer it if you did actually turn up for work tomorrow," Burke told him as he shoved him into the taxi and told the driver his address.

As the door shut and the taxi began to pull away, he leaned forward, telling the driver, "Actually I want you to take me somewhere else."

The man shrugged. "No skin off my nose as long as you pay me."

"You don't need to worry on that score, mate,"

"I've heard that one before," the man laughed bitterly. "So where are we going then?"

Robbie muttered Jackie's address and leaned back in his seat again. He'd had enough, was already fed up with the cold shoulder and didn't want to put up with another day of it tomorrow. He was sorting this out tonight. He wasn't going to let this lie any longer.

* * *

Jackie scowled into her wine glass, she was more than halfway through her second bottle and she still didn't feel any better. Sighing, she slumped back onto the sofa, bringing her legs up onto the cushion and tried to focus on the film she'd put on; it didn't work.

Groaning, she resisted the urge to kick something. She was still so angry at Robbie for his earlier comment, and she wasn't even sure why it was grating on her so much, he let his mouth run away with him all the time and he had apologized.

She took another sip of her drink. She might not know why, but his remark had stung a lot more than she'd expected, maybe it was because it was on the heels of yet another failed relationship – not that anyone had known about that – or maybe it was because...She shook her head, she actually didn't have a clue as to why it had hurt so much. What was clear however was that the damn man should learn to think before he opened his bloody mouth.

Running a finger lazily around the rim of her glass, she considered his earlier apology, he had meant it, and she didn't doubt that. It was just that the words alone didn't heal the hurt he'd caused, and she was tired of him just thinking that an apology would solve everything and it would all go back to the way it was before.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her doorbell being pressed insistently, over and over again. Getting to her feet, she let out an annoyed sigh and headed towards the front door. She wasn't overly surprised to find a drunk and irritated Robbie standing in front of her, his finger still pressed down on the damn doorbell. "You're going to break that," she told him coldly.

"Need to talk to you."

"It's late, you can wait until tomorrow."

"No. I can't," he replied shortly as he nudged his shoulder into the gap between her and the open doorway, hedging his way in.

She let him slide past her, into the hallway, but her glare didn't abate. She folded her arms across herself. "So what do you want?" she asked as she locked the door shut.

He swung round to face her. "I want to know what your problem is."

"My problem?" Jackie echoed in disbelief. "You insult me but I'm the one with the problem, that's unbelievable, even for you."

"I apologized for that," Robbie groaned, pushing an irate hand through already dishevelled hair.

"So what the world's alright again because you managed to utter the word sorry," Jackie scoffed. "It's just not as simple as that, Robbie."

Robbie felt his blood boil. "This is exactly what I mean!" He snapped, his finger pointing at her accusingly. "You shut everyone out, the minute they get too close you put up the barriers. You're like an ice queen, it's no fucking wonder you're divorced and still single."

Jackie's eyes widened, she drew in a deep breath before hitting back at him. "I can't believe that you have the nerve to stand there and give me relationship advice. You! The man who's shagged his way around Glasgow, you wouldn't know a committed relationship if it bit you on the arse. At least I try to make things work; you're too much of a coward to even attempt it, so instead you bar hop taking home one vapid girl after another so that you don't have to face up to the fact that you're on the wrong side of forty and completely alone!"

"You looked in a mirror recently?" he shot back. "You're in exactly the same boat."

"Oh get out!"

"No!"

"Why not? Hmmm, you got anymore pearls of wisdom you're dying to share with me?"

"I came here to fix things!" He yelled back at her.

"Well it's not working!"

He stalked forward until she was backed up against the wall. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Why can you never think before you speak?"

They stared at each other, their argument having reached somewhat of an impasse, neither was about to apologize and yet they had run out of accusations to throw at each other. Finally Jackie sighed. "Go home, Robbie," she snapped, still feeling irritated beyond belief.

He shook his head. "No," he repeated, his voice quieter this time. He hadn't come here with the intention of making things worse and he definitely didn't want to leave things this way.

"Robbie," she sighed, giving his chest a soft shove, her face tilting upwards, her eyes flashing in exasperation.

He wasn't exactly sure what prompted his next move; it wasn't planned that was for sure, all he knew was that he suddenly found his hands tangling into her brown hair, pulling her face forwards, his lips pressing against hers.

She let out a small squeal of surprise, but let her hands move to cup his face regardless, encouraging him onwards, lips relaxing as she began to kiss him back; hard. A gasp escaped her as he pushed her back against the wall, his fingers pulling insistently at the buttons of her shirt. She knew she should stop this now before it went any further, but when his lips trailed a damp path down her neck, nipping at her pulse point, all coherent thought went very swiftly out of the window.

Pulling his lips back up to hers, she kissed him again, only vaguely aware of the fact that her shirt was now hanging open. Her back arched as his hand cupped her breast, his thumb brushing across the nipple, causing it to tighten even through the material of her bra.

When he wrenched the bra cup to one side she made a vague sound of protest that died when his mouth drew her in and traced the outline of her nipple with his tongue. Her fingers tightened into his shoulders, one hand moving downwards to cup him through his trousers, causing his hips to buck. She fumbled with his belt buckle, smiling triumphantly when it came undone.

His hands slid to the back of her thighs, pulling her legs up, causing her to wrap her arms around his neck in an effort to stop from toppling sideways. He kissed her; he seemed to be finding himself being drawn back to her lips time and time again. While one hand supported them against the wall he undid her trousers, fingers pulling at her underwear until he felt them tear and give away.

Her hand slipped past his gaping shirt, fingers curling around the bare skin of his sweat slicked shoulder, a moan slipping from her lips as he thrust into her without warning, her nails biting into his skin as he began to move.

It was fast and furious, the culmination of years of self denial and the tension from their earlier argument. Her legs tightened around his waist, urging him on.

He could hear her breathing become more erratic, feel her muscles clench around him. He groaned against her neck, his eyes opening to look at her, noting the flush that had spread across her pale skin. She bit down on his shoulder and with one last thrust he growled her name and spilled himself inside her. It was the last iota of sensation she needed and she toppled over the edge with him, a hoarse cry escaping from her throat.

For a moment they stayed like that, her forehead pressed against his cheek as they came down from their combined high. After a few long minutes had passed, he lowered her to the ground, slipping out of her, causing Jackie to bite down on her lip to hold back a moan.

Her eyes finally opened to find Robbie watching her intently, almost warily, while in her peripheral vision she could see the clothes they'd removed, scattered across the floor. She honestly had no idea what to say, she just didn't do things like this. She felt his fingers gently pull her bra back into place. "Jackie?" he echoed quietly.

Her head jerked back up as she attempted to pull what clothing she could back to rights until she felt adequately covered. She watched as he redid his trousers and re-buttoned his shirt. "I really do think you should go this time," she told him quietly.

"Yeah," he nodded his agreement. He wasn't sure what he could do or say, if anything, to make this less awkward. He hadn't expected this to happen, and he hadn't expected it to be so explosive. Even now part of him wanted more, and if it had been anyone else he'd be moving things into the bedroom for part two. As it was though, he wasn't about to push things any further. Kneeling down, he grabbed his suit jacket from the floor and shrugged it on.

"I'll call you a taxi," she muttered, heading towards her living room.

His hand reached out and gripped her arm gently, stilling her. "I can walk," he told her.

Jackie shook her head. "You shouldn't, it'll take you ages."

"Doesn't matter," he assured her.

"Fine," she gave an awkward nod. "You can see yourself out."

She waited until she heard her front door shut before she headed back into the hallway to double check that the door was properly shut and to pick up the remnants of her clothes. Discarding them quickly she leaned back against her wall, crossing her arms across her chest she mumbled, "Oh, Jackie what have you got yourself into."


	2. Chapter 2

**The character Naomi is from the episode Penthouse and Pavement. I don't own her :)**

**A/N at bottom.**

* * *

Slipping into the office the next morning, Jackie was relieved to see that - as per usual - she was in before Robbie. Stuart looked up from his computer screen and shot her a smile of greeting. "Good night?" he asked innocently.

Jackie could feel her shoulders tense even though she knew that he couldn't possibly know what had happened. "It was fine," she replied, pasting a smile on her face. "Just watched a film, relaxed. What about you?"

Stuart shrugged. "It was a bit quiet without you, well that and Robbie was in a bad mood." He looked at her carefully. "Did you two have a disagreement?"

She turned her face away from his inquisitive gaze, raking through the papers on her desk as she answered, "It was nothing really."

"It didn't seem like nothing, he had a face like thunder the whole night and you'd have thought he was trying to drown himself in those pints."

Jackie gave an irritated sigh and shot him an annoyed glare. "Just leave it alone, Stuart."

He held up his hands. "Fine, forget I mentioned anything." He lowered his hands and looked back at his computer screen, muttering, "I only have to work with you both."

Ignoring the comment, Jackie tapped her fingertips against the wood of her desk as she hunted for something to do. She stalled, swallowing back against the nervous lump in her throat when she heard Robbie's voice greet them both, "Hey."

"Morning," Stuart replied happily, he grinned at Robbie's creased face. "Feeling rough?" he teased.

He grumbled in lieu of reply as he hunted in his desk for painkillers. He hated hangovers with a vengeance and it certainly wasn't going to help matters today, things were already complicated enough. Realising he had nothing in his desk he let out an annoyed growl. "Anyone got any paracetamol?"

Stuart shook his head. "Nope, sorry. Jackie what about you?"

Jackie nodded, and without so much as looking in Robbie's direction she pulled the packet out of her desk drawer and tossed it over to him. "Thanks," he called over to her.

She brought her head up to meet his gaze and almost instantly looked away again. An awkward silence ensued with Stuart frowning at the pair of them in turn, until Burke's voice broke through it. "Grab your coats, body's been just been dragged out the Clyde."

* * *

"So what happened?" Burke asked Gemma as he cast his eye over the body that was still half concealed in bin bags.

"It's a bit soon to be able to give you exact details-"

"Try," Burke interrupted sharply.

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "If you'd kept listening then you would have heard what I do know." She smiled when she heard Burke's sharp inhale of breath, and then continued. "Victim is female, probably late twenties early thirties, been in the water for roughly twenty four hours. What isn't clear yet is if she was dead when she went in. There's a large indentation at the back of the skull, not sure what from, but she could have just been unconscious when she went into the water." Gemma pulled a face. "Although I kinda hope she wasn't."

"Any other injuries?" Stuart asked.

"Not sure yet, she's still clothed but I can't rule out a sexual assault at this stage."

"Any form of ID on her?" Jackie asked.

"Afraid not."

Burke gave a low grumble. "It's going to be one of those cases, I can feel it."

* * *

"Right then, what have you lot found?" Burke asked.

"We ran fingerprints through the system and we have an ID," Jackie replied, as Stuart brought the picture up onto the screen. "Kate Macpherson, previous for possession, soliciting, theft-"

"The same old story then," Burke interupted, sighing and shaking his head. "We got any more on cause of death?"

Robbie nodded. "Yup, she was killed by a blow to her head by a blunt, straight edged object and then dumped into the river sometime between midnight and 3am. Gemma did find signs that she had sex before she died, but all signs point to it being consensual as they're no defensive signs on her, although the water got rid of any DNA evidence."

"If she was still in the age old business she could have been with a client," Burke mused. "Right then." He nodded over at Jackie and Robbie. "You two get to do some good old fashioned police work. Go round and try and find out if anyone saw her last night."

"Go round where exactly?" Robbie asked looking perplexed. "She could have stood on any street corner in the city."

"Well you better get started then," came the snarled reply. "Stuart and I will go check out the address we have on file, see if she ever lived there to begin with."

Burke watched as Jackie and Robbie left the office without uttering one word to the other, he frowned as he heard Stuart ask from behind his shoulder, "Do you think it was the best idea to send them out together? They've barely said anything to each other all day."

"Aye, well they'll just need to sort out their problems, and if they have to spend the entire day together then the sooner they fix it the better. That and it keeps us the hell out of it."

* * *

"I think we should try the drop in centre that Naomi McKellan runs first," Jackie suggested as Robbie started the car engine. "She might have seen her, might know where about she worked."

"Did you keep in touch with her?" Robbie asked.

"No, I just think that we'd be better trying her first before we traipse all over the city. It could save us a fair amount of time."

"Fine." Robbie gave a short nod. His glance slid sideways to look at her. He cleared his throat almost awkwardly. "Jackie-"

"Is this going to be about work?"

"No-"

"Then I think it can wait."

Robbie let out a low sigh; he sometimes forgot how stubborn she could be. He pushed the car into gear quite roughly and glared out of the windscreen as he pulled away from the station.

* * *

"Detective Sergeant Reid, it's been a while." Naomi commented, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"It has, I just wish I was back under happier circumstances," Jackie replied.

Naomi gave a wry grin. "No offence, but when you lot are around there's never a happy circumstance. So let's just get this over with and you tell me what it is you want."

"Wondering if you'd ever seen this girl here before?" Jackie asked, holding out the photo of Kate taken from her file.

Taking the photo, Naomi replied, "Yeah, I've seen her here a couple of times, what's happened to her?"

"She was murdered," Robbie answered. "So anything you could tell us would be helpful."

"I didn't know much to be honest, gave her name as Katie, no surname. She was only here a couple of times so I didn't really get the chance to get to know her."

"Do you know where about she looked for business? Or know where we could find someone who might have seen her last night?"

Looking thoughtful, she replied, "She came here with Lisa, who mainly works the South side."

"Any idea where?"

"Um, I have a book and I encourage the girls to write down their usual haunts, just in case something happens, I'm not sure if she ever did though."

"If you could check."

"Of course." She moved over to the desk and unlocked the top drawer, flicking through the black ledger she'd pulled out of it. "She's written down one place, I'll give you a note of it."

"Great." Jackie watched her carefully before asking, "Can you describe Lisa for us? Does she have any distinguishing features?"

"Medium height, short brown hair, blue eyes and she has a star tattooed on the nape of her neck."

Jackie took the proffered slip of paper and gave Naomi a polite smile. "Thanks for all your help."

"Its fine, but I'd prefer it if we kept it to this one visit. The girls still don't trust you lot and it's safer for them if they trust me, so you can't be seen to be calling here too often."

Robbie bristled. "This is a murder enquiry; we're trying to catch whoever did this as quickly as possible."

"Yes, but I can't help you at all if the girls stop coming here."

Sensing this argument wasn't headed in a good direction, Jackie quickly intervened. "We appreciate you helping us out with this one; you've saved us a lot of time. Thank you."

"It's fine," she replied, although her arms remained folded across her chest defensively.

Jackie gave a quick smile as she gently pushed Robbie out of the centre. "I can't believe you acted like that," she snapped as they stepped outside.

Robbie ran his hand through his hair. "It just gets on my nerves, that's all. She's still acting like we're the enemy."

"She did help us, or would you rather have spent the day and most likely the night trailing around every street corner in the city trying to question women who simply don't want to talk to us," Jackie replied sharply.

"I didn't say that! I said that her attitude was off-"

"Because you're all light." Jackie slid into the car and slammed her door violently shut.

Drawing in a breath between tightly clenched teeth, Robbie followed her into the vehicle.

* * *

"How long are we going to sit here?" Robbie asked.

"It's still early."

Robbie tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "Are we ever going to talk about last night? We can't just pretend it didn't happen."

Jackie's breath caught in her throat as she stared resolutely ahead of her. "That's exactly what we're going to do."

"And what just never talk again," he scoffed in reply.

She finally twisted in her seat so that she was looking at him. "It should never have happened; it was a stupid mistake due to the fact we'd both had too much to drink. I shouldn't have said what I did last night and I'm sorry. I just want it to go back to the way it was before."

Robbie stared at her a second before nodding. "I'd like that," he finally replied. "And for what it's worth I'm sorry too." He reached out and squeezed her hand gently.

Jackie gave a small smile. "Good." She glanced back out of the window and added, "Looks like our luck's finally beginning to change.

Looking up Robbie saw a woman fitting the description they'd been given start to linger on the near empty street." How do you want to do this?" he asked.

"I think we should just approach her, she can't go too far too quickly in those heels."

"After you then, DS Reid." He shot her a cheeky grin.

Repressing a smile, Jackie felt herself finally begin to relax as she climbed out of the car.

As they drew closer to the girl, Robbie asked, "Lisa?"

She looked up sharply, and stared at them suspiciously. "Who wants to know?" She swore under her breath when they flashed their ID cards at her. "I'm just waiting for someone...a friend."

"You're not in trouble," Jackie attempted to reassure her. "We just want to ask you a couple of questions."

"Yeah that's how it always starts," she remarked, taking in a long draw on her cigarette.

"Look we just want to know if you know this girl." Robbie held out the picture.

Lisa looked at it, her eye flickering slightly. "Why?" she asked quietly.

"Her body was dragged out of the Clyde this morning."

Her cigarette dropped from between her fingers. "What happened?"

"Did you know her?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I know...knew her. Kate...Katie, she normally worked here with me."

"What about last night?"

"She left here at about eleven, got picked up by a regular. I left here not long after and she wasn't here when I got back. I just assumed she'd gotten herself another job-" Lisa stopped abruptly, rubbing at her eyes.

"This regular, do you know anything about him?" Jackie asked.

"Not really, just know he pays well. He's got a fancy car, a silver Audi. I know the registration though. BN8 GJ7."

"Thanks, that's a great help. Do you know if she had any family?"

Lisa looked at them, biting down on her bottom lip in an attempt not to cry. "No, she didn't. Parents are both dead and she was an only child. Did she suffer?"

"No, it doesn't look like she did," Jackie replied.

"Good." Lisa wrapped her arms around herself and tilted her head back to look at the sky. "I think I'm going to call it a night," she muttered, walking slowly away from them.

Robbie glanced over at Jackie. "Well it looks like we actually have a lead."

* * *

**The case wasn't really going to be a feature in this, more background for this chapter rather than anything else. But now I feel like I have to round it off, so the story is going to be more of a slow mover than originally intended...I think. I'll see how actually writing it works out. Hope no-one minds lol.**

**Oh and thank you for the reviews, I meant to reply but I read them on my phone and then forgot to come back to it when I came in.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The case didn't turn out as I'd planned but I felt I couldn't just leave it unfinished.**

**The ending of this chapter might make it seem as though this story is finished, but it most definitely isn't :)**

* * *

"I didn't expect you two back so soon," Burke remarked, eying Robbie and Jackie suspiciously as they entered the office.

Robbie grinned at him and gave a casual shrug. "What can I say, when you're good, you're good."

"Aye very amusing. Now did you find out anything useful?"

"We did," Jackie replied. "Katie was last seen last night at about eleven, getting into a silver Audi that apparently contained one of her regulars. No name or description but we do have the car registration."

"Good, give it to Stuart he can find out who our mystery man is."

"Did the address throw up anything?" Jackie asked.

"No, we confirmed that she lived there but apart from a small bag of the devils dandruff we didn't find anything." He turned to look at Stuart. "You got an ID for us yet?"

"Yeah, the car's registered to a Paul Stevenson, only thing is, is that his address has him living in Manchester."

"Bit weird for him to be one of her regular ones then," Robbie commented, leaning back in his chair.

"Not really," Jackie replied as she hitched her hip up onto the side of his desk. "He could be up here on business; he could have family here, so we can't rule him out."

"Can you get a phone number?" Burke asked.

"Of course I can," Stuart answered, looking slightly affronted.

"Well then get on with it!"

Pulling a face behind Burke's back, Stuart turned back to his computer screen. After a moment he wrote the number down on a notepad and ripped the page out, handing it over.

Burke stared at it and then looked back up at the younger DC. "Phone it! I shouldn't need to tell you this, and don't be too obvious." With that he stalked off, muttering under his breath.

Jackie shot Stuart a sympathetic look. "Someone's in a good mood."

"He's been like that ever since we got back, some wee Ned tried to scratch the word Pig into the side of his car, we caught him in the middle of it when we were coming out of Katie's flat. So it's just Pi."

Robbie gave a bark of laughter. "Rather him than me," he commented.

"Ah but you forget that we have to live with the consequences," Jackie remarked, her mouth twitching.

"He's normally in a rotten mood anyway; this just gives him a bit more of an edge."

"Because that was what he needed, more edges," Jackie remarked as she pushed herself up from his desk and headed round to her own.

A few minutes passed in relative silence, the only sound coming from Stuart's phone conversation. They both looked up as they heard him say his goodbyes and hung up. "Well?" Robbie prompted him.

"I spoke to his wife, a Hannah Stevenson. She says her husband often works up here at least three days a week and always stays at The Hilton in the West end. He arrived up here two morning's ago and doesn't leave again until tomorrow night."

"Perfect," Robbie replied, reaching behind him to grab his coat. "Come on Jackie, we'll go check this out. Stuart can stay here and comfort the Boss."

"I take it you two are talking again then," Stuart remarked.

"I just turned on the charm," Robbie joked in reply. "She couldn't resist me."

Jackie's smile faded slightly at the remark, as she realised that she'd managed to join the legion of women who'd fallen for Robbie's charms. When he turned to face her again, she flashed him a tight smile. "Come on then," she told him quietly. "No time like the present."

* * *

Flashing his badge at the receptionist, Robbie told her, "We need Paul Stevenson's room number."

The woman flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled coquettishly at him. "Not a problem, officer. Although if I give you the spare keys you'll have to sign them out and ensure that you return them before you leave the building. Also if you intend to search the room then I'll need to see a warrant."

"We simply want to speak to the occupant," Jackie replied. "Do you know if he's in?"

"I believe so," she answered primly.

"Well then we'll just take the room number," Robbie told her decisively.

"Room 324, that's on the third floor, I'll have our porter escort you."

"Surely that isn't necessary."

"Just following protocol." She leaned over the desk and snapped her fingers at the young porter who was standing nearby. "Andrew, I need you to accompany these officers up to Room 324."

He grimaced. "I was about to go on my break."

"And I don't care, you know I can't leave the desk," she hissed in return.

"Fine," he snapped, rolling his eyes and shoving his hands into his pockets. "This way," he told them briskly.

Jackie and Robbie shared a look. "Well they're friendly in here," she murmured quietly.

He laughed under his breath. "I think it might just be an effect we have."

Andrew looked over his shoulder. "Anything I can help with? You're mumbling," he pointed out.

"Just talking about work," Jackie replied easily.

He nodded. "What you wanting this guy for?"

"A chat," Robbie answered.

"About what?"

"We're not really in the habit of discussing our investigations with all and sundry," he replied coldly.

"Sorry for asking," Andrew muttered bitterly as they reached the door and he leaned against the wall casually.

"You can go now," Robbie told him.

"Enjoy your break," Jackie added.

He looked longingly at the door again and then shrugged, pushing himself off the wall and strolling off down the corridor. "Christ some people are nosy!" Robbie exclaimed.

"Well I can't imagine his life is overly exciting, this is probably his gossip for the month."

"No doubt." He brought his closed fist up and hammered against the door, blatantly ignoring the 'do not disturb' sign.

"Can't you read!" Came a disgruntled yell from through the door.

"Police, open the door please, Mr Stevenson," Jackie replied calmly.

There was silence for a moment before the door swung open, revealing a rather average looking man on the other side. He ran a hand through his receding blonde hair. "Can I help you?" he asked, looking perplexed.

"We think so," Jackie told him. "Although I think it would be better if we conducted this inside."

"Of course." He moved out of the doorway and waved them into the room, shutting the door behind himself. "So what is it? Has something happened?"

"You could say that." Robbie replied. "Were you out in your car last night, a silver Audi with the registration BN8 GJ7."

"Um yeah I went for a drive about 11ish last night, why?"

"Did you pick up a prostitute by the name of Kate Macpherson?"

His face paled, and he swallowed audibly. "I didn't know her second name, just called her Katie. Why?"

"Can you just answer the please, Sir."

"Yes, yes I brought her back here last night. Now why do you want to know?"

"Her body was pulled out of the Clyde this morning, she'd been murdered and her body dumped."

"Oh my God!" He dropped into a chair, his hands shaking. He stared blankly ahead for a few moments before looking back up again as realization slowly dawned. "You don't think that I had anything to do with this?"

"You were the last person to see her, we have to ask," Jackie pointed out.

"I could never kill her!"

"Perhaps she threatened to tell your wife," Robbie suggested. "You could have panicked and smacked her over the head."

"I didn't!" He insisted. "Look I did bring her back here, I'm not going to deny that, but we had sex and then she left, there's security camera's that will prove I'm telling the truth and that show that I didn't leave the hotel after that."

"What time did she leave at?" Jackie asked.

"Sometime between midnight and half past."

"We will be checking those tapes, Mr Stevenson," Robbie assured him.

"Go right ahead. I'm innocent."

* * *

"Do you believe him?" Robbie asked as they headed back to the reception desk.

Jackie looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I do actually."

"Leaves us with a bit of a problem though."

"Hopefully the tapes will help clear that up." She nodded towards the blonde receptionist and added, "I'll leave you to do the talking, I'm pretty sure she prefers you."

"It's my natural charm," he joked.

"Of course," Jackie replied, rolling her eyes.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" The girl simpered as Robbie approached the desk again.

"We're getting there," he replied. "Although I do need to ask a favour. I'd like to see the security tapes from the entranceway last night, from eleven onwards."

"Looking for anyone in particular?"

"Yeah, this girl here. Do you recognise her?"

The receptionist's eyes widened. "Oh yes," she sneered. "I recognise her. Although I can assure you that she would not have left through our main exit, we encourage those...types of visitors to leave through the service exit, although I'm still more than happy to show you the tape. Follow me," she smiled as she led them into the security office and extracting the tape pushed it into the small combi TV and video.

They watched as at 25 past 12, Katie left the building, walking past Andrew on her way out. They saw him stop her and dangle a set of keys in front of her before leading her back inside, and appear again exactly 52 minutes later with a bunch of bin bags in a large grey tub.

"Those looked like room keys," Jackie pointed out.

"They probably will be, Andrew has access to the front desk," the receptionist breathed out quietly.

"And that tub?"

"We use it to move large amounts of rubbish out of the hotel, we have several of them."

"Well," Robbie mused. "We certainly have enough to at least bring him in for questioning while we secure a warrant for the hotel. Where will he have gone?"

"Staffroom," she replied. "Or out the back having a smoke."

* * *

Robbie watched as Jackie tapped her pen against the file she was reading, she looked distracted and he could tell that she was still bothered by what had happened between them. As it was just the two of them still in the office, he decided he had to do something about it. He gave a slight cough and she looked up. He asked her, "What did the interview throw up then?"

"He thought she was overcharging him, she tried to grab the money off him and he smacked her over the head with one of those metal sculptures they had in the room. No doubt we'll find blood traces on one; Stuart's removing them from any room that was empty last night. That and the Boss reckons we'll find DNA in the tub he used to move her."

"So all tied up then?"

"Looks like it."

He nodded, his mouth twisting thoughtfully. "You do know that nothing is going to happen with that receptionist."

Jackie's eyes widened momentarily. "That doesn't really have anything to do with me," she finally muttered.

"I just don't want you to think that I just think of you as-"

"Another one night stand?" she suggested. "Seriously, Robbie just forget it."

He stared at her from across the desk. "Look, I'm not trying to make things difficult-"

"I just think it'll be better if we go back to the way things were before," she interrupted. "We're friends and i don't want to lose that."

"Neither do I," he insisted. "But I just want you to know that you mean a lot to me, and you never could be just another...assignation."

Her lips curled into a small smile. "Thanks, Robbie."

He shrugged. "Pub?" he suggested. "I'll text Stuart, tell him to meet us there with the Boss."

"How can I refuse such an offer," Jackie laughed, grabbing her coat and leaving the office with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**This story isn't quite turning out the way it was in my mind, but what can you do lol.**

**I have an idea for another story but it's going to be a case fic and I'm struggling to come up with a case to fit around it.**

**Some of the lines from this chapter come from Genesis, so if they seem familiar you know where it's from. It just seemed to fit.**

* * *

On paper the case was cut and dry. The father had lost his job, the debts were mounting and he couldn't handle the pressure or the sense of failure. He hadn't wanted to admit how bad things had become to his wife and so instead he'd stabbed her to death before smothering their two children in their sleep and hanging himself.

It had been easy to piece together what had happened and for once there had been nothing in the way of twists and turns, but for the obvious reasons it had hit the team hard. The suggestion of the pub had been floated but no-one could quite stomach the idea of siting amongst people enjoying themselves, and so Stuart had headed home whilst Burke had barricaded himself in office using the guise of paperwork to get people to leave him alone.

That had left both Robbie and Jackie at a lose end, as neither had particularly wanted to go home to an empty flat, this had led to the decision to pick up a takeout along with copious amounts of wine and head back to Robbie's place.

It had been over a month since they'd slept together and things were back to how they'd always been, the awkwardness between them dissipating quickly.

Sitting at the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the seating area, Jackie pushed the remnants of her pasta about her plate. "I just don't understand how he could do it," she stated. "Wipe out his entire family."

"He didn't want to live and he didn't want to leave them with the mess he'd made, I suppose," Robbie replied before taking a gulp of his wine, trying to block out the images in his head.

"Surely there had to be somewhere he could have went for help." She shook her head. "Those poor kids."

"I know, I don't think I can ever get my head around a parent killing their own kid."

Jackie placed her wine glass back on the counter. "I sometimes forget that you have a son," she admitted.

He shook his head. "You forget?"

"Do you never see him?"

Robbie looked down at his plate and shrugged. "Not really, things got difficult when Gabby and I split up." He gave a small sigh. "Ach, he's probably better off without me."

"You really think that?" She asked, her head tilting to one side.

"Nope," he replied wryly. "But it's easier if I pretend to." He looked up at her, regarding her thoughtfully. "You and Brian never wanted kids?"

Jackie choked slightly on her drink and looked up at him. "We talked about it," she finally replied. "But we never could agree, he wanted me to give up work or at least switch to a desk job, he thought it made more sense. Then things between us just got gradually worse and it was the furthest thing from our minds."

"Do you regret not having them?"

She frowned. "Sometimes, but most of the time I know it probably worked out for the best."

"You've still got time though."

"Maybe, but we can't all live the dream can we?"

"No, no harm in dreaming though."

"No, no I suppose not."

After a few moments of rather heavy silence he nodded towards her plate, asking, "You finished?"

"Yeah, I'll give you a hand with the cleaning up."

"You don't have to," he told her.

"I know," she replied. "But it's considered polite."

He smiled at her. "I meant because I'm just planning to dump them next to the sink."

"It'll only make doing them later on worse," she pointed out.

"Come on, Jackie, live a little," he replied, draping his arm around her shoulder and leading her to the sofa. As she sank into the cushions, he refilled her glass and placed it on the table in front of her before sitting down next to her.

Letting out a soft sigh she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Sometimes I really do hate this job."

He slipped his hand around her waist and nodded. "Think we all feel like that from time to time. Trick is to find something that takes your mind off it."

She tilted her head to look at him, the silence stretching out between him. It wasn't just cases like these that bothered her, it was the loneliness she felt afterwards that ate away at her, the lack of someone who understood what she felt. But he knew, he'd been there and he understood and she just wanted…needed that connection She knew that what she was about to do next could never be considered a sensible idea, but then it was so much easier to break the rules when you'd gotten away with it once before. Reaching up she let her hand curved around his cheek, and she inhaled softly when he placed a small kiss to the inside of her wrist.

He waited, deciding to let her make the decision whether or not to take this any further. It only took a few more seconds for her to bridge the gap between them - although it felt like longer. She pressed her lips gently against his, her free hand winding into his hair as he deepened the kiss, pushing her gently backwards so that they were sprawled across the sofa.

As he felt her fingers tug at his tie, he let his hands slide underneath her top, fingers stroking her skin as he pulled her closer. He pulled away from the kiss and placed a chaste kiss to the corner of her mouth, murmuring, "The sofa probably isn't the best place for this."

"Well I suppose we should move somewhere else then."

He laughed for the first time that day as he tugged her to her feet and pulled her into the bedroom.

* * *

Everything was different this time round, they'd taken their time, getting to know every last inch of the other and when it was over there wasn't the panic or the sense of overwhelming guilt that there had been the first time round.

As their breathing evened out, he tugged her into his side, her hand splaying out against his chest. "That probably wasn't the most sensible way to end the evening," Jackie finally said, breaking the silence.

Robbie entwined his fingers with hers, his chin resting against her head. "Why not?"

"You know why," she replied.

"I really don't." He shifted so that he could look at her, keeping her hand in his. "What's so wrong about this? It could be good for us."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think that?"

"Well no offence but we don't exactly have much to lose. We're both alone, spend more time than is probably healthy at work which is probably why none of our relationships have ever actually worked out-"

"Robbie, just what are you suggesting here?" she interupted.

He shrugged. "We already know that we can work together and not let this interfere with that. I'm not suggesting a relationship, so you don't need to panic, it just gives us what we're both missing."

"I thought half the women in Glasgow were queuing up to sleep with you," Jackie remarked wryly, a smile tugging at her lips.

He pinched her arm lightly. "I meant intimacy, being with someone who understands, whenever you need them."

"It would be nice for a change," she admitted. "But what if you meet some young blonde who you decide you need to devote your time and attention to?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh ye of little faith. If _either _of us meets someone else then we call it a day, no recriminations, no guilt."

"And you think that will work?"

"Don't see a reason why it shouldn't." He swallowed nervously as he waited for her answer. Even though what he was suggesting was a casual arrangement, her agreement meant more to him than it probably should. He knew that a relationship between them couldn't work, that he'd never be able to give her everything she deserved, but for a while at least these small moments of time together would be enough.

Jackie squeezed his hand lightly. "Well there's only one way to find out," she replied, giving him a smile.

His face broke into a smile as he rolled her under him. "In that case Detective Sergeant Reid I have a problem I require your help with."


	5. Chapter 5

**6 weeks later**

It had been an unusual day due to the fact that they actually didn't have a case and so had spent time catching up on paperwork, the result being that they had actually left the office at a decent hour for a change. The fact that the day ended at the pub however wasn't quite as unusual.

Burke drained his glass and placing it back on the table told Stuart, "Your round, I'll be back in a minute."

Stuart glared at the table. "It's always my round," he moaned.

"One of the joys of being a DC," Robbie laughed. "Make mine a pint."

"Yeah, yeah. Gin and tonic, Jackie?"

She nodded her agreement and suppressed a smile as Stuart trudged miserably to the bar. "One of us should really get the next lot in," she remarked.

His eyes sliding over to the bar to check that Stuart's back was still turned, Robbie let his hand rest on her knee. "We could, although I did have something else in mind."

Jackie raised her eyebrow. "Did you now?"

He leaned closer into her. "Yeah," he told her. "I did."

She bit down on her bottom lip, she knew where he was going with this and she wasn't entirely convinced it was the best idea. Up until now they'd only ever spent time together after difficult cases when one, or both of them needed someone there. They had never just spent the night together for the sake of it, and she wasn't sure if they did she'd be able to stop herself getting in too deep if they did. "I don't know…"

Knowing that she'd be more likely to agree to his suggestion if he gave her a reason, he slid his hand up onto her thigh as he added, "Because I don't know about you, but all that paperwork today hasn't left me in the best of moods."

Shooting him a look of amusement, she clamped her hand down on his, preventing his hand from moving any further although she didn't even attempt to push him away altogether. "That's a God awful excuse."

He laughed and shrugged. "Fine, so I just want to spend some time you. It's not a crime, is it?"

"No." She glanced up into his brown eyes and felt herself relent as always. She was tired of living sensibly, it certainly hadn't gotten her anywhere, maybe it was time for a change. Brushing her fingertips over her knuckles she asked, "So what's this plan then?"

He shot her one of his trademark grins. "Well do you want to go to your place or mine."

"Mine," she replied quickly. "I can't really be bothered with trying to navigate around the piles of clothing you keep on your floor."

He laughed. "In that case then, you leave first after this round and I'll follow about twenty minutes later."

"You sound like you've given this a lot of thought."

"Needed something to do while I was pen pushing, thought I'd do something constructive."

"Well it's always nice to try new things," she teased.

"So…"

"Well I don't see how I can turn down such a well thought out-" She stopped mid-sentence, pushing his hand quickly away.

He looked over to where her gaze had settled and saw Burke strolling casually towards them. Shifting subtly he made sure that there was a respectable distance between them by the time the older man was at the table. "Stuart not back with those drinks yet?" he growled, shooting daggers at his empty glass."

"Here he comes now," Jackie nodded as Stuart darted around a group of people whilst trying to keep a grip on the tray of drinks. He finally placed it carefully on the table and dolled them out. Taking hers, Jackie told them, "I think I'll make this my last."

Burke frowned at her. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Don't tell me you've suddenly got yourself a social life."

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I just fancy an early night, get home before midnight for a change."

"Aye well you had me concerned for a few minutes."

After twenty or so minutes had passed, Jackie pushed her empty glass back onto the table and glanced back up at the group. "Right, that's me, I'll see you all tomorrow."

Robbie watched her go and then asked, "Anyone wanting another one?"

"Am I going to have to get it?" Stuart asked, grimacing.

"Nah, thought I'd treat you for once."

Burke's eyes narrowed. "You're in a good mood."

"That a crime now?" Robbie asked him.

"Just go and get the drinks."

"You sure? You don't want to interrogate me some more." On seeing Burke's glare, he gave a short laugh as he headed to the bar.

When he got back, Stuart asked him, "You fancy heading out after this? There's a new club just opened in the City centre"

"As nice as that offer is Stuart you're not really my type."

Stuart shook his head, his eyes narrowed as he pulled a face at him. "Very funny. What do you think?"

He screwed up his nose. "Nah, think I'll call it a night after this one."

Stuart stared at him in bewilderment. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Fine, Stuarty, just don't feel like going to a club."

Burke snorted. "You'll excuse us if we don't quite believe you."

Robbie shrugged. "Maybe I've outgrown all of that."

"Aye and I'm about to jump up and do the hula on this table," Burke scoffed

"Don't let us stop you," he laughed in reply, especially as he realised that he wasn't even lying, he was tired of the conveyer belt of meaningless one night stands, he enjoyed being with someone who actually made him laugh and had something intelligent to say. He drained his glass quickly, and slapped Stuart on the shoulder. "Take the Boss, he can let his hair down for a change."

Stuart laughed as he glanced over at Burke's face, stopping abruptly when the glare fixated on him. Once Robbie had left, Burke looked over at him. "I suppose I'll get the next round in then."

"Don't stretch yourself," he muttered in reply.

"Watch it."

Shaking his head, Stuart stared down at the drink smeared table in front of him and murmured, "I need to get out more."

* * *

Jumping out of the taxi, Robbie pushed a tenner into the driver's hands, telling him, "Keep the change." Before moving swiftly up the steps to Jackie's front door.

She leaned against the door jamb and smiled at him. "You took your time."

He slipped past her, his arm winding around her waist so he could pull her in with him. "Stuart wanted to go on to a club."

"And you turned him down for me?" she teased, pushing the door shut with her hand.

"Mmmm." He nodded, his lips brushing briefly against hers, his fingers moving to undo the top few buttons of her shirt. "Well his offer didn't really hold too much appeal."

"Very flattering," she whispered against his mouth before kissing him deeply, pushing his suit jacket off his shoulder and onto the floor. She tugged at his tie impatiently, her head falling back as his lips moved down her throat, nipping lightly as he went.

By the time they'd reached her bedroom, they were both only half dressed. Shooting Robbie a smiled, she pushed him backwards onto the bed. His hands steadied on her hips, holding her still and preventing her from joining him. He trailed his mouth down her stomach, his fingers moving to undo the catch of her trousers.

The moment they hit the floor, she straddled his lap sighing softly against the crook of his neck as his hands moved up her sides. He pulled lightly at material of her bra. "Very nice," he muttered.

"Hopefully not so nice that you want it to stay on though," she laughed in reply.

"Christ, no!"

He tangled his hands into her hair and pulled her lips to his again, silencing her laughter at the vehemence of his previous exclamation. On hearing her breath catch in her throat and he smiled and that was when it hit him, he was in love with her and falling deeper all the time.

She wriggled out of his grasp and kissed down over his chest and stomach, her fingers looping around his belt buckle. "That being said I can think of another item of clothing that needs to come off first." After that all coherent thought swiftly left his head as he found less worrying and infinitely more pleasurable things to focus on.

* * *

"Coffee?" Jackie asked him as he strolled into her kitchen doing up his shirt the next morning.

"Yeah." She pushed him a mug across the table as flicked through a magazine and stifled a yawn. "Tired?" he asked, grinning at her.

She merely smirked across the table at him before telling him, "There's food in the cupboards if you want to make yourself something.

Robbie shook his head. "Don't have time, need to get back to my place and change before work. Still," he added happily, reliving the memories of the morning's activities. "At least I saved time by showering here."

"I don't know about it saving time," Jackie laughed in reply. She glanced at her watch. "Oh and you're going to be late," she pointed out.

He shrugged. "So I'll tell the Boss my alarm wasn't working."

"Yeah, he'll believe that."

Laughing, he got to his feet and moved round to her chair, dropping a kiss to her cheek and then one to the side of her neck. "I suppose I should go then."

She squeezed the hand on her shoulder. "I'll see you soon," she told him. Sipping at her coffee she watched him go, her eyes narrowing with worry when she heard the front door fall shut. Things between them were getting far too comfortable considering what they'd agreed and the fact that that wasn't worrying her, was worrying her.


	6. Chapter 6

**3 Weeks Later**

The girl scrubbed at her foundation caked cheeks with the hem of her jumper. "I've already told you what happened!" She snapped at them.

"We need you to make a proper statement, on tape," Burke informed her coldly. "It's procedure."

Her lips twisted into a sneer, she dug the tip of her finger against the tabletop. "We were talking, he was trying to make-"

"For the benefit of the tape we need you to use names," Stuart interrupted.

She sucked in an annoyed breath. "Fine!" she hissed. "Detective Inspector Ross was trying to make me say that Danny wasn't with me on the night that guy got stabbed, told me to say that he'd came in with blood on him and thrown away his clothes. Then he started trying to touch me up, shoved me up against the wall-"

"Violently?"

"Yeah, it hurt," she shrugged. "He pinned my wrists with one hand so that I couldn't move and then put his hand up my skirt."

Jackie turned away from the viewing window. She couldn't listen to this, the girl was lying through her teeth and she didn't think she could listen to anymore of it and still resist the urge to storm in there and throttle her scrawny neck.

As she stormed out of the room she slammed the door behind her, taking a small amount of satisfaction from the loud bang and the sight of the two P.C's standing in the corridor jumping out of their skins.

Robbie had been told to go home, but she knew that he wouldn't have been able to do that and she had a feeling about where he'd be.

Pushing open the door to the roof, she stepped outside and was somewhat relieved to see that she'd been right. He was leaning out over the stone wall, staring into the darkening evening sky, he glanced briefly over at her as the door clicked shut behind her before turning his attention back to the skyline. Walking over to him, she stood beside him silently, waiting for him to speak first, knowing he might not want to talk at all."

A few more moments passed before he finally said, "I didn't touch her. I swear to God I didn't lay a finger on her or tell her to lie, I just tried to get her to see he was using her."

"I know," she replied softly.

He turned to face her. "How do you know?"

She placed her hand over his and squeezed it gently. "Because I know you and I know that you would never do that to a woman." She met his gaze, her own unwavering. "I know you'd never do that to me," she added quietly.

His lips twitched with the ghost of a smile. "Careful, Jacks you're starting to sound like you trust me."

"So what if I do?"

He shook his head. "I'm no good for you."

"I think I can decide that for myself," she assured him.

Robbie closed his eyes briefly, he'd known that they were skating on thin ice, had been for a while now. They'd gradually shifted from spending the odd night together and sharing no intimacy past that, to something that scared the hell out of him, and even she was saying everything he wanted to hear he wasn't sure if he wanted to listen because if she ever changed her mind then he wasn't sure what he'd do. Not only had she been a part of his life for so long, but when things went wrong he turned to her for advice and support. To be honest he didn't know what he'd do without that. "Jackie-"

"Look, Stuart and the Boss will fix this, they'll prove she's lying." She cupped his cheek, her thumb running across his cheekbone as she leaned forward pulling his head down so that she could press her forehead to his. "Everything will be fine."

He let out a shaky breath, his arm winding around her waist, pulling her into him so that they were pressed tightly together. "About this…us."

She nodded against him. "I know, it's went further than we ever thought it would. We're both too involved."

"Yeah," he agreed, waiting for her to push him away, to walk away.

Her fingers curled against his cheek, she needed him to tell her that he didn't care that they'd thrown the rulebook out of the window. "Does it matter though?" she asked quietly.

"Not to me," he admitted.

She smiled, her eyes locking onto his. "Good."

Feeling the tension ebb out of his muscles, he kissed her lips once gently before asking, "So what now?"

"Not sure, just keep going I suppose. I don't know about you but I'd rather keep this just between us, for now at least."

He nodded. "I can live with that."

Her lips brushed against his, opening under the returning pressure of his. Her free hand twisted in the lapel of his suit, trying to bring him closer as he tightened one hand's grip on her waist and cupped the back of her neck with the other.

* * *

"So she's admitted that she was lying then?" Gemma asked.

"Yeah after we pointed out that there were no bruise from her 'attack' or any forensics on her clothes."

"Good ol' Danny boy wanted the heat off him so asked her to come up with that load of shit," Burke added, his face screwing up in disgust. "She soon changed her tune though when we told her we'd found his blood stained shirt in the bins outside."

"Well at least we can tell Robbie he's in the clear," Gemma sighed happily. "Is he still here?"

"He shouldn't be," Burke growled as he stomped off down the corridor.

Waiting until he was at a safe distance, Stuart told her, "He'll be up on the roof. Not sure what it is about up there," he frowned. "But everyone seems to be like a moth to the flame to it."

"Well I'm going to go up and give him the good news, since all I seem to get to deliver is the bad stuff." She patted him on the arm as she breezed past him,

Making her way up the metal steps, she pushed the door open quietly and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Robbie and Jackie wrapped around each other. She blinked, wondering if at some point she'd slipped into a parallel universe without realising.

Stepping backwards, she slipped back into the stairwell and quietly shut the door. They'd no doubt be mortified if they realised they'd been spotted, she tried not to smile, she actually kind of hoped that they'd finally seen sense in regards to how they felt about each other, because to her it was plainly obvious that there was more than just friendship between them.

Frowning she bit down on her bottom lip as she realised that she couldn't just leave without telling Robbie, not when she'd already told Stuart she was headed up here with that sole purpose in mind.

She rolled her eyes, she couldn't believe that she was about to do this. Picking up her feet she slammed them heavily against the metal as though she were running up the stairs, and loudly shoved at the door. Stepping back outside she flashed the now separate pair a bright smile. "Some good news for you, Robbie."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh, complaint's been dropped. We thought we could take you to the pub to celebrate."

Her eyes gleamed slightly as she noticed his eyes slide in Jackie's direction before he shook his head. "No, think I'll leave it tonight, been a long day."

"Oh ok then. What about you Jackie?"

"I'm meeting someone, so I can't," she replied quickly.

"Hot date?" Gemma asked, actually enjoying the slight discomfort she was causing to flash across the pair's faces.

"Just a friend." Jackie gave her a weak smile.

"Oh well then, have fun.," Gemma told her cheerfully as she turned and left.

As the door shut behind her, Robbie let out a loud breath of relief. "Well that was close," he remarked.


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is just fluff with a small link into the next and most likely final bit of this story :)

* * *

**

2 Months Later

Looking up from the paper he'd been thumbing through, Robbie declared, "I was thinking-"

"I'm suitably terrified," Jackie interrupted him, grinning at him as she crossed the room and handed him a wineglass, which he placed down at the side of him.

In retaliation to her remark, he yanked her down onto his knee, her wrist jerking and sending her drink flying, splashing up her arm, causing her to let out a squeal of surprise. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her backwards so that her back was pressed against his chest. "As I was saying," he continued, smirking at her as shook some droplets off her wrist. "I think we should go out for a change."

Jackie looked over her shoulder at him, feeling slightly affronted, she replied, "We go out."

"Yeah, with Stuart and the Boss, it's not the same thing. I think that we should go out just the two of us."

Relaxing back against him and leaning her head on his shoulder, she met his gaze. "What did you have in mind?"

"Drinks, dinner." His fingers traced lightly down her arm, eliciting a trail of goose bumps to pop up across her skin, before he linked his fingers with hers. "Thought I could wine and dine you, show you my legendary charm."

"That sounds nice," she admitted, her lips brushing across the shell of his ear. "But what exactly is it in aid of?"

His head dropped into the crook of her neck, his free hand slipping under her top and brushing against the thin, sensitive skin that covered her hip bone. "I just want to treat you for a change." He placed a small kiss to her where her pulse beat steadily under her skin. "You are far too suspicious," he smiled.

"Hazard of the job."

"Uh huh." He trailed his hand down to her thigh and gave a soft groan. "I wish you'd wear skirts from time to time, make things easier."

She laughed lightly. "I've learned from experience that it's easier to run in trousers, but since you're going to take me out I promise that I'll wear a skirt or a dress."

"Good, I like your legs." He leaned forward slightly and caught her lips in a gentle kiss, his fingers deftly undoing the top button on her trousers. "In fact," he breathed lowly. "I think I'd like to see them again."

* * *

A smile played across Robbie's mouth as he watched Jackie apply her lipstick carefully and blot it slightly. She hadn't noticed he was there yet and he quite liked that, it meant that she was comfortable with his presence, mind you they had spent enough time together. Not every single second - because that would be obsessive - they were able to tell the other whenever they needed space and no offence was ever taken.

He wasn't sure why they worked so well, but they did, which was all that really mattered he supposed.

Jackie jumped at the wolf whistle that shattered the silence of her bedroom, whirling round she shot a somewhat half-hearted glare in Robbie's direction. "Don't scare me like that," she scolded him.

He leaned back against the door jamb, his eyes running over her lazily. "You always did scrub up well."

She smiled and shook her head. "I hope that wasn't an example of your so called charm."

"Night's not started yet," he replied easily. Stepping forwards, he slid his hand over her hip. "I like your outfit."

"Meets with your approval then?"

"Oh yeah. I especially like this slit up the side here." As if to prove his point he attempted to move his hand in that direction.

She caught his hand, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Later," she told him.

"Spoilsport."

Smoothing her skirt back into place, she promised him, "I'll let you hold me to it."

* * *

As they walked to the taxi rank, Robbie wrapped his arm around Jackie's waist, pulling her into his side. "So?" he asked. "Was I suitably charming?"

"Oh gold star definitely," she laughed.

"I thought so." She slapped his arm lightly at the over confident reply, leaning her head on his shoulder as they waited for another taxi to arrive. "You warm enough?" he asked in mild concern.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Thank you, for tonight, you were right it was nice to get out just the two of us." Leaning forward she kissed his lips lightly, smiling when his arms tightened around her.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek and without giving his next words much consideration told her, "I love you, Jackie."

She inhaled sharply and for a brief second he thought he'd spoiled everything by saying completely the wrong thing. Then her smile widened and she replied softly, "I love you too."

The sound of the taxi approaching broke the resulting kiss and pulled them apart momentarily, as they both stepped into it's relative warmth. But the moment the door was closed she was settled back into his side again and for once everything was right and it felt like nothing could go wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm not entirely happy with this story, I think it worked better in my head.**

**But ah well you live and learn lol.**

**Would love to hear your thoughts, good or bad.**

* * *

2 Days After That

"Present for you," Burke told Stuart, throwing the CCTV tape onto his desk. "Turns out that Sarah Donnelly was at this taxi rank just two nights ago, her friend saw her into the taxi and then left. She's unsure of the time but that driver is the last known person to have seen her alive, so I want his licence plate number."

Stuart pulled a face at the tape. "Why do I always get these jobs?"

"Because I sent the other two to go and talk to her fiancé about his whereabouts that night."

"So muggins gets to do this," Stuart muttered under his breath. Letting out a long sigh, he grabbed the tape and headed in the direction of the room they used for this purpose. Dropping into the seat he shoved the tape in and leaning back began to watch.

He got to just after eleven and frowned, shuffling forward he paused the tape and stared at the two familiar faces on screen. Pressing play again his mouth dropped open as he watched the events unfold. Hearing Burke yell something at someone as he stomped down the corridor, he grabbed the remote and attempted to fast forward the tape slightly, hide what he'd seen. But as the door flew open he hit the wrong button and sent the tape backwards, swearing under his breath he pressed stop so many times that the tape ejected itself.

"What the hell are you playing at? Those things cost money you know!" Burke snapped at him. "Bloody well be careful."

"Sorry Boss," he stuttered out. "You just made me jump."

"Aye well though I'd come see how you were getting on."

"Fine," Stuart assured him hurriedly.

"Good, press play then."

Stuart's eyes widened. "What?"

"Press play, you know what they say about two sets of eyes being better than one."

"I can manage, Sir."

"Damn well press play, Stuart!" His eyes narrowed suddenly. "Unless there's something on there that you don't want me to see."

Swallowing back the lump in his throat, Stuart replied, "There's people we know on it."

"It's a busy taxi rank within easy reach of George Square and the Merchant City, so unless they're shoving Sarah Donnelly into the back of a taxi I couldn't give a stuff! Play the damn tape!"

Nodding, Stuart braced himself for the awkwardness of the next few minutes and pushed the tape back into it's slot, pressing play. He winced as he heard Burke's angry inhale of breath at the sight of his two senior detectives wrapped around each other. "What the hell do they think they're playing at! Did you know about this?"

"Not until a few minutes ago," Stuart replied hurriedly.

"I'll kill them, this time," Burke breathed out. "Keep watching that."

* * *

"You think he's telling the truth?" Robbie asked as he and Jackie walked back into the office.

She looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I think so."

"So then that-"

"You two! My office now!" Burke yelled out of his door.

They shared a confused look with Jackie shrugging her shoulders softly as they walked into the room.

"Shut the door," Burke growled as he prowled irately around his desk.

"Problem, Sir?" Jackie asked, feeling more than a little perplexed.

"You could say that D.S. Reid!" he snapped at her. "I just watched the CCTV tape from one of the taxi ranks in the city centre two nights ago." He watched as they both shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "Aye I thought that might ring a bell with the pair of you." He slammed his hand down on the desk. "Now tell me that was just a one off!"

Robbie shook his head. "Can't," he replied calmly.

Burke's chin quivered with barely repressed outrage. "How long?" he hissed.

"Four months," Robbie told him.

"Four months!" he exploded angrily. "You've been shagging each other for four months!"

Jackie winced slightly at the inelegant phrase. "Surely what we do in our free time is our business."

"Not when your on my team it isn't."

"It hasn't affected our work," Robbie growled. "So with respect, Sir I think you should keep your nose out of our lives."

Burke pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a low groan. "Four months," he breathed out, which means you two were involved when that complaint was made. So how exactly can you claim it hasn't affected your work!"

"I made sure that I wasn't involved in any of the interviews," Jackie replied quickly. "I never once came into contact with Louise so it can't be claimed that I tried to influence the outcome of the complaint."

"You still should have mentioned it then!" He made a noise of anger in the back of his throat and told them lowly, "Go and do some work, and you can rest assured that if I see any sign that this has compromised you working together I'll have you both out of here before you can blink."

They both gave a nod if understanding as they got to their feet and left the office.

* * *

Later that night, Robbie stood in the small kitchenette and leaned against the counter. The case was all but closed, with Stuart and Burke interviewing the neighbour in the flat next door who had attacked and murdered Sarah. They had more than an enough evidence to charge him, but they still wanted to at least attempt to get a confession as it made things a lot easier later on.

He glanced out of the small window that looked into the main office and frowned as he saw Jackie sitting at her desk, twirling her pen around her fingers. He knew that she was bothered by what had happened today, but he wasn't entirely sure how best to broach the subject.

A smile tugged at Jackie's lips as a cup of coffee was placed in front of her and Robbie sat himself down on the edge of her desk. "Thanks," she told him.

His hand brushed lightly over her shoulder. "You ok?"

"I was just thinking, that's all."

"He won't transfer us," he assured her.

"He wasn't exactly happy, Robbie."

"Is he ever?"

She laughed. "That's true."

* * *

"So you knew?" Stuart asked Gemma as they walked down the corridor.

"Uh huh."

"And you never told me?" He looked at her slightly affronted.

"It wasn't my place to tell. How's Burke taking it?"

"Barely stopped ranting."

"Think he'll calm down."

"Hope so."

As they approached the office they saw the man in question standing frowning. They walked up to him and peered past his shoulder to see Robbie and Jackie laughing over something, neither having noticed that they were there. "You know, Boss," Stuart volunteered. "If we didn't notice then it can't have been affecting their job."

"And if it all goes wrong."

"Who says it has to go wrong?" Gemma asked.

Burke gave a small grumble in lieu of reply.

Her smile widened. "I mean they've both been in a good mood of late, Robbie hasn't turned up late or looking worse for wear in last night's clothes. If anything it's made things better."

"You going to talk to them?" Stuart asked.

He nodded curtly. "Aye, so make yourself scarce."

"Right well we're going to the pub if you want to join us later."

"Think I'll leave it," Burke mumbled.

Sharing a look, Stuart and Gemma left him to it. Taking a deep breath he walked into the room and coughed loudly, causing the pair of them to look up sharply. "I've thought about it," he told them quietly. "And if you continue to keep it out of work then I see no reason why I'd need to act. Now go home, I'll see you both tomorrow."

As he turned away, Jackie and Robbie shared a smile, his hand closing around her wrist he told her quietly, "I told you it would be ok."

Rolling her eyes, Jackie replied, "Always so cocky." Leaning forward she kissed his cheek lightly.

"What did I just tell you pair!" Burke yelled at them.

"We're just going," Robbie assured him as they left the office together.


End file.
